BenVernia

@[email protected]
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93 Posts
Lawyer representing whistleblowers, investigation subjects and targets, and criminal defendants.
BenVerniaFeb 21, 2024
Oona HathawayFeb 20, 2024

Nearly two years after Russia invaded Ukraine, we launch a series on war reparations at Just Security.

In the opening post, we argue for using collective countermeasures to continue to freeze Russian central bank assets until Russia meets its reparations obligations.

https://www.justsecurity.org/92460/how-to-make-russia-pay-to-rebuild-ukraine/

How to Make Russia Pay to Rebuild Ukraine

On the efforts to use Russian funds to help rebuild Ukraine, the authors write that a system of collective countermeasures institutionalized through the U.N. can create pressure to bring Russia to the table.

Just Security
BenVerniaFeb 7, 2024
Hearing pundits say courts will have to refrain from holding Trump trials in the election lead-up There's no such rule or norm. Even DOJ's unwritten 60-day rule is irrelevant now that prosecutors long ago made the kind of investigative and charging decisions to which it applied.
Show threadBenVerniaJan 19, 2024
@Teri_Kanefield The Salmon Chase decision arose under an unusual set of facts, if I recall correctly. The criminal defendant’s argument was essentially that the judge in his case was unlawful, but his interest in disqualifying him seems kind of collateral to Section 3– I’m not aware of specific errors committed at trial. It just seems kind of sui generis.
Show threadBenVerniaDec 15, 2023
@Adorable_Sergal decades ago, when I was a programmer, there was an acronym: RTFM (read the f**king manual). Is that still a thing? I don’t think there are any manuals anymore.
Show threadBenVerniaDec 14, 2023
@mvario Coincidentally, today is the 373rd anniversary of the botched hanging of Anne Green. (Doctors who were given her corpse revived her.) she was convicted under the Concealment of Birth of Bastards Act (1623), which presumed that a woman committed homicide if she concealed the remains of a fetus/infant. In Green’s case, she had miscarried (after becoming pregnant by her master’s son).
Show threadBenVerniaDec 13, 2023
@rhetoricked I wish courts would also permit record citations to be treated as one word. I’ve seen folks create really ugly formats to try to get around this (eg, RApp@679). Once you start seeing these issues, you see them everywhere.
Show threadBenVerniaDec 11, 2023
@Teri_Kanefield Curious to get your take on Trump's including the double jeopardy argument. That one is much weaker, and appealing its denial seems to run counter to the usual advice of appealing only stronger issues.
Show threadBenVerniaDec 6, 2023
@annmlipton The combined effect of Ashcroft and Bell Atlantic has been devastating to corporate accountability. Judges now have essentially carte blanche to express their prejudices and hunches in dismissal orders.
Show threadBenVerniaNov 18, 2023
@jackiegardina The profession is also stratified on the client side, particularly in high-stakes cases. Corporate clients typically only consider BigLaw firms for such cases, even if the client itself is a relatively small company. Back in the '70s, there was a saying in computers that "nobody ever got fired for buying IBM". That's the mentality: Sure, BigLaw firm will cost a fortune and is just as likely to lose the case as a small firm, but no one will blame the GC for hiring them.
BenVerniaNov 18, 2023
I agree with Judge Luttig, and think that the judge here got wrapped around an axle of interpretation despite the fact that Trump's argument is nonsensical. It simply cannot be the case that the Reconstruction-era Congress wanted to prohibit insurrectionists from serving as the Asst. to the Deputy Assoc. Sec'y of Agric., but wanted to permit them to become president. The logical reading of §3 is that it surveys the structure of government, and includes all exec. officers (incl. Pres.) together.